CHRISTOPHER TIMOTHY: Across Yorkshire's moors and dales,
the world's most famous vet set the benchmark for animal care,
and James Herriot's legacy lives on.
COWS MOOING
His former trainee, Peter Wright...
All my life, I've enjoyed doing this.
...has been a Yorkshire vet for over 40 years.
I'm getting the impression you wouldn't take me on as an assistant.
Is that right? Probably. Ha!
Peter's old partner, Julian Norton...
With a gloved hand and a lubricated finger, I'm well-equipped.
...now runs two practices... Come on, young man.
...one of them in the town where Herriot worked,
surrounded by the North Yorkshire landscape he loved.
Look at that! What a sheep!
And in the foothills of the Pennines...
I'm armed and ready.
...a new generation of town and country vets...
This is the closest tojames Bond I think I'm ever getting.
...also uphold the Herriot ethos.
Another day in paradise.
The teams are united...
We can probably knock this off ourselves, do you think? Pfft!
...never taking their eyes off the ball...
Oh! Howzat! Ha-ha!
...as they help animals of all shapes...
Didn't think I'd be hugging a turkey today.
...sizes... That's more like pulling a calf out.
...types...
Nearly done. Nearly done, Bertie.
...and temperaments.
Ow! He bit me!
It's definitely not glamorous.
Penile amputations still make me squirm a little bit.
But it's varied.
WOMAN BRAYS
You ought to know better!
It's rarely easy,
but they continue the Herriot tradition.
Ooh!
Treating all creatures... That's it, there we go.
...great... Oh, Merlin.
Come on! ..and small.
Hello! Ho-ho!
After the rainfall when the sun begins to shine,
up above Yorkshire's streets and houses, another rainbow...
...climbing high over those glorious green pastures.
COW MOOS
The colourful countryside more than makes up
for there being no pot of gold.
And able to call this the workplace...
...a Yorkshire vet has to try
and look for a silver lining around any cloud.
But when there's an emergency...
...it gets harder to see by the second...
...which is why Shona's rushing from The Huddersfield Hospital
to Jonathan's farm.
Shh-Shh-Shh.
Anytime we get a call for calving,
it's sort of all hands on deck and get there as quickly as we can.
The longer that the cow is having difficulty giving birth,
the more likely it is that there's something gone wrong.
We noticed she was laying apart from the others,
so we thought she was clue to start calving.
So, I shot across, but no sign of a calf.
We brought her back here
and she's got a calf inside her, but she's not pushing.
With any child birth, it's a difficult time for the mum,
and we'll drop all routine things to get to theirs as an emergency.
Ancl obviously get her through the lab our
and hopefully get a live calf.
Hello, little one. Here she is. Hey, girl. Right.
So, you've seen something hanging out the back end of her...
Yeah. ..when she's in the field. Right, 0|<.
Look like a cleansing rather than a calf string.
But no evidence of a calf in the field. No, I've searched.
Ancl did you say you've had a feel in her, and you can feel a calf?
Had a feel in her, there is a calf there, but it's well back.
Right, we'll have a feel and see what kind of position it's in
and what's going on. Jonathan's especially worried
because of a previous bad experience with the same cow.
First calf. She did the same. Showed signs of starting to calf
and then just never really got on with it.
The calf was dead inside her.
But then, last year, she calved perfectly all right on her own.
So, we were expecting the same this year,
but it's not gone as straightforwardly as we'd hoped.
Good lass. Yeah, cervix is definitely opened, ain't it?
Right, I've got two feet, and elbow depth in.
Is it breach?
Yeah. Not true breach cos it's coming straight, but... Right.
I suspect she's not progressing the same
because it's not the right way around. Right.
It's currently on its left-hand side with its legs coming like that,
coming UP-
You grab the blue, yeah, the blue is actually...
The blue should be, yeah, is on the left leg.
Obviously, you've gotta be careful
that you're not tearing the uterus with the feet.
COW MOOS
OK, just ease off a wee bit.
It's got no space to twist.
It's kicking at the minute.
Don't say "at the minute".
It's just coming at a really awkward angle.
It's not a nice position at all.
At the practice in Kirkbymoorside... Come on. Up we go, Shep.
...Peter's patient, two-year-old Shep... Good lad.
...has a very, very personal problem.
Shep's come in bleeding from his penis,
and we're just going to have a look and see if we can ascertain
where the blood's coming from.
It does look a bit inflamed, that penis, doesn't it? Mm.
SHEP WHIMPERS An extremely delicate issue...
We're going to pass a catheter into his bladder
just to see what the urine's like in there.
...requires an extremely steady hand. Good boy.
Good boy, well clone. Nearly done.
The vet gets no credit ever, does he?
THEY CHUCKLE
Good boy. There we are, Shep.
In the waiting room,
Shep's owner, Martin, is sitting uncomfortably...
It does feel a bit like you need to get it sorted.
You know, being a male as well. And anything goes wrong down there,
you go straight to the doctors about it, don't you, really?
Makes me cringe. CHUCKLES NERVOUSLY
It's all right, Shep. Good boy.
That's looking fairly clear, isn't it? There's nothing further up.
Shep's visit to the vet...
One more insult, I'm just gonna have a feel up his bum.
...will be one he'll never forget.
All right, Shep, we're nearly clone. SHEP YELPS
Prostate's absolutely fine, normal shaped.
Good boy. Do you know what shape a prostate is?
No. Like an apple. Is it?
Mm. Ancl that's a very small apple in there.
SHE CHUCKLES
Right, I think we'll put him on some antibiotics and send him home.
With nothing serious to worry about...
They don't come any braver do they, Shep, hey?
They don't come any braver.
...it seems Shep had an itch... Come on.
...he simply couldn't scratch.
My gut feeling is it's coming from the end of his penis,
which I think he may have traumatised.
Yeah, well, we already know that he's got a bit of flea problem,
so I think he might have nibbled his willy a little bit
and made it bleed. PETER CHUCKLES
MARTIN SIGHS
PANTING
Over in Wetherby, Julian's next patient
is an older boy called Ralphy... SMACKS LIPS
...who has his own, very visible, uncomfortable veterinary memories...
You're beautiful, aren't you, hey?
...which make his new problem especially concerning.
He's got a big lump, bleeding mass on the upper eyelid.
The bigger issue with Ralphy is his other eye
has been removed several years ago.
It was back then... SMACKS LIPS
...that Michael adopted Ralphy, when he was two.
He'd just had his eye out and the family didn't want to keep him,
apparently, because they didn't want to a one-eyed dog.
We went to see him and fell in love with him. He's our little boy.
We've been trying to avoid, today, but it's come to the crunch
and we're gonna need to take this horrible lump off the eyelid.
We are worried about it. He's nearly 11 now,
so you're never quite sure how they're going to react
to an an aesthetic.
Come on, then, Ralphy. Let's go see Julian.
Poor old Ralphy. Aw, Ralphy.
That's the problem, look that horrible thing there.
Ancl it keeps getting infected and his owners have been very worried
about doing anything on the grounds of his age,
and the fact that he's only got one good eye left.
With him only having one eye, we don't want the eyelid
to sort of be too deformed and impact on his eyesight
out of his one good eye.
There we are, Ralphy. Good boy. Into the land of nod.
If the lump's too big or you don't do it quite right
then you can end up with an eyelid
that isn't sitting together properly or neatly.
So, in theory, it's simple,
in practice, it's often quite the opposite.
What shall we do, clip the hair off first?
It's horrible, this, you know. The lump is really big. Is it?
Ancl that will just get worse, I think, if we don't do anything.
I'm pleased, really, we've got the chance to take it off now.
It looks horrible. Aw.
It could be even worse than I expected.
COW MOOS There's a lot going on in here,
which always makes things a little bit more challenging.
The calf's out backwards, but is there a way forward?
Come on, mister. Come on, lad.
Oh, he is lame, isn't he? I can see that from here.
And a foal called Elvis has Peter all shook up.
I know that hurts. I'm sorry, Elvis. I'm sorry.
Near Huddersfield, Shona's trying to save two lives,
with Jonathan's cow unable to give birth
to her calf that's coming backwards. There's a lot going on in here,
which always makes things a little bit more challenging.
You've got to be keeping an eye on where the feet are,
where the hocks are, how big everything is.
Right, we've got it straight now. I think we're gonna need that jack.
Right, just hold it there a second.
The oxygen supply is coming through the umbilical cord
into the bellybutton.
Because they're not designed to come out backwards,
when we get past the point of no return
you are at risk of cutting off the oxygen supply from the mother
before it can take a breath.
Because you can get them stuck at that critical point.
Ancl that is one of the reasons that it's absolutely critical
that we use a calving jack to get this calf out
Because once we've got past the belly,
we're gonna have to pull it out really quickly.
We've got a nice calving jack here.
Right, can you just tilt it up a wee bit? That's it.
So, keep it straight initially. CALVING JACK CLICKING
Good girl. So we go nice and steady so she's got time.
That's it.
LABOURED MOOING
Good girl, sweetheart.
STRAINED: OK. All systems go.
Right. Get 'em on little 'un.
Come on.
Come on. Come on. Come on, lad. Come on, mister.
Come on, lad.
All right, beast.
That was a big breath.
Shall we take it to its mother? See if she'll give it a good lick.
Give that a good swish, lass. It's breathing. It's just dopey.
So that's absolutely brilliant we've got a cracking male calf here.
He's being a little bit dopey cos he's come out backwards.
But his mum's interested in him, which is the second big bonus,
and, well, he's alive.
We'll give her some pain relief and get her bedded up with this one
so she can settle in with him.
You never know, breach births can go either way.
So, yeah, very happy with that.
THEY MOO Ooh, there he goes.
Calf making his... He's coming round a bit now, yeah.
THEY MOO
I can't believe how tired I am from getting that calf out.
I need to get back in the gym. SHE CHUCKLES
It's always a worry when you get that call of going to a calving
because all manner of things can await you.
Ancl it's always a worry as well when the calves coming backwards
because it is a higher-risk thing.
But we've got him out and he's looking good.
Right, give me a ring tomorrow, let me know how he is.
I will do, yeah. All right. See you later, then.
Thanks, bye.
COW MOOS
Over in Wetherby, Julian and Lucy are preparing to remove a lump
from one-eyed Ralphy's eyelid.
I've been seeing Ralphy for quite a few months now,
and every time we've been trying to avoid doing this.
It's slowly been getting worse, has this eye, for Ralphy.
It's caused increasingly a crusty infection around the eyelid.
You ready? Ready? I'm ready, yep.
Come on.
Right, are we all good? Yes.
That's a horrible thing, look.
So, what I need to do is cut around that in, like,
a cake-slice fashion which removes a wedge of tissue,
including the lump.
I always like to put the end of some forceps underneath just,
or something to press on, so I don't accidentally slip
and slice his eyeball, which would be a terrible disaster.
Right, that's it. This is a very vascular lump,
with big blood vessels.
We could tell that beforehand cos it did keep bleeding.
It's another problem to deal with, but I think so far, so good.
Quite a big gap there, so the problem that I might have here
is if these edges don't meet up, then you can end up
with a kinked eyelid, which is not what we want.
So, this is the point of
working out whether it's going to come together neatly.
Ancl I think I'm clone.
That looks really good.
That's come away a lot better than I was expecting or anticipating.
Looks much better. Save the eye and save the clay.
Do I need to save the lump? Good question.
Yeah, we probably should put it in a histology pot.
It looks rather innocuous lump now,
but when it was attached to Ralphy it looked altogether more serious.
Anyway, it won't cause him any more problems.
Come on, then.
Good boy, Ralphy.
Four months ago, on the edge of the North York moors,
Peter met newborn donkey Elvis...
You're having problems by the looks of things.
...who wasn't able to get enough milk from his mum.
Obviously, he's going there. Yeah.
We don't know how much he's taking. No.
But a trip to the local equine hospital saved him.
He's lovely. Elvis! HE CH UCKLES
So, we can say by tomorrow that Elvis has left the building.
Absolutely. Elvis will have left the building.
THEY CHUCKLE
Today, Peter's rushing out to see Elvis again.
This little donkey is a chap that I know well, and, his owner,
she's very concerned because he's quite lame.
So, I've told her to put some sort of protection on there
until we have a look at him this morning.
So, I'm on the way there now to find out what's going on.
Georgina and her daughter Lizzie have been keeping a close eye
on the little donkey.
Come on, then.
Come on.
How're you? LIZZIE CH UCKLES
How're you doing? You're gonna check his foot out, Lizzie?
Is it any better after last night, do you think?
Well, we noticed that he had this limp last week
and it's just not getting any better.
We thought that would've eased after a few clays, but it hasn't.
He's the baby of the family, so, we are all very worried about him.
And, Lizzie, you're the donkey whisperer of the family,
aren't you? So, you've been helping, too.
Morning. Morning. How are you? I'm very well, thanks.
Elvis isn't very well, is that right?
He's limp, he's just not improving. Right.
Have you any idea what might've caused it? No...
Well, he's only got little legs, hasn't he?
I didn't know, has he sunk down and sort of stuck in the mud,
and he's jarred it as he's come out? Lizzie put the dog boot on it,
last night... Oh, right. ..to try and keep it clean. Yeah.
Well clone. Oh, he is lame, isn't he? I can see that from here. Mm.
That's quite telling, in't it? Yeah, it's definitely getting worse.
Yeah. Definitely.
Right. Let's go and have a look.
Hello, Elvis.
Hello, boy. Poor little Elvis. What have you been doing?
It's nice to see you, Elvis.
This is the man that saved your life, Elvis.
Have you got a poorly foot? Poorly leg?
Right, Lizzie. Well, I might need you to help with Elvis, all right?
Can we hold him between us? I think we can, can't we?
Oh, well clone.
Elvis, let's have a look.
Let's have a look and see what... It's all right.
It's all right, Elvis.
It's quite puffy and painful round here.
I think this is quite thick. ELVIS WHIMPERS
Elvis, what're you doing, man?
Let's have a look. just a minute.
I'm just going to pare this off
and have a look and see what's happening.
It's painful for him because this is very sensitive. Right.
Good boy. I know, I know.
I'm sorry. ELVIS WHIMPERS
I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I know that hurts. I'm sorry.
Hold steady. I'm sorry, Elvis. I'm sorry.
Oh, cripes!
Red alert for Matt with a pregnant sheep.
It's a fair-sized prolapse, is this, in't it?
And Rohin goes from relaxing walks with his own husky...
THEY WHINE AND BARK
It feels very real, all of a sudden.
Line out! ..to sledding without snow.
Bumpier than I expected, straight on!
In Wetherby...
INDISTINCT CHATTER
...Lorna and Michael are desperate to see Ralphy...
Right, then, Ralphy. ..afterjulian removed a lump
from their elderly, one-eyed dog's eyelid.
We've got a very clean house. SHE CH UCKLES
Haven't we? Yeah, it's, er...
Cleaned it from top to bottom, ain't we?
We've been anxious, haven't we? Absolutely.
Can't wait to see him. Spoiling him. Yep.
I've cooked a chicken specially for him.
Can't imagine life without him.
Oh, gosh, no. I don't want to think about it.
Can you walk or shall I carry you?
Good boy, good boy.
Do you want to come through?
PANTING
Oh, baby! Hello, darling.
Hello, sweetheart. Hello, beautiful. There we are, yeah. Hello.
Don't look too bad at all, does it?
Looks a lot better than it did, yeah. Yeah.
The eyelid came together really nicely. Oh, brilliant.
That was obviously one of the big concerns,
would we be able to do that? It was, yes. Anyway, it's off now,
and he doesn't need to worry.
Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
All right. Thank you. OK. Bye-bye.
Ralphy's on his way home now. The surgery went really well.
There's definitely a very special bond,
with Ralphy and his owners. So I'm delighted
for everybody's sake that it's worked out so happily today.
And after a few weeks of recovery...
Such a beautiful boy, aren't you, hey?
...Ralphy's loving life back in his boys' club,
with one girl allowed.
When I retired I decided I was going to have a summer house.
Ralphy used to go in there with him when he was in there, and I'd say,
"Where's Ralphy gone? Oh, he's in the man cave with his daddy."
It's your little place, in't it, hey?
Gimme that ball.
Where's it gone? RALPHY BARKS
Good boy. Then he won't give it back.
THEY CHUCKLE
He's our little boy, and, before, we were so protective
cos every time he did anything his eye would all fill with blood.
Ancl it was very uncomfortable and swelled up.
The result is absolutely fabulous.
We were a bit concerned about what shape his eye might be,
butjulian's made a super job on it. Yeah, and he is much happier.
He is, yeah. TOY SQUEAKS
Here you go. Here you go. RALPH'! BARKS
Come on, give it to Daddy. THEY CHUCKLE
Vets know just how much pets mean to their owners.
Come! Good dog.
Ready?
Many have their own four-legged best friends.
Em, I need to go back to work!
And in Huddersfield... Sit. Wait...
Speak. DOG BARKS
...Rohin's is Rupert.
I think Rupert's getting desperate. I should go and take him for a walk.
Are you coming, Rupert? You know that word, don't you?
He's had the nine-year-old husky since he was a puppy.
Good boy.
So, today, despite a lack of snow,
he wants to take his husky love to new, high-octane extremes.
I'm on the way to meet Faye and Richard,
who run a husky trekking experience in North Yorkshire.
I'm a little bit apprehensive.
I know that they do travel at quite some speed when they get going.
Faye and Richard have kept huskies and various other sled-dog breeds
for over 20 years.
I don't think there's anything I don't love about them.
They're my world. They're my life. They're my passion.
I used to like cats. FAYE LAUGHS
Then we got a husky, and it's quite addictive.
Once you get one, we got another one, then another one.
You can never have too many huskies. There's never enough.
FAYE LAUGHS
Hello! LAUGHS
DOG BARKS Sounds like I'm in the right place.
Hi, guys. Hiya.
I'm Rohin. Nice to meet you. Hiya. Richard.
I've never seen this many beautiful dogs all in one place before.
This is incredible. I've got a "sled dog" myself.
I say "sled dog" cos he's very spoilt.
He's a probably the most spoilt husky you'll ever meet.
I think it's hard not to spoil a husky. Yeah.
How long has it been that you've been sort of doing
the trekking and that side of things?
That's 15 years that we've actually been actually working them. Sure.
So, it's a three-wheel trike,
hook the clogs up to the front of that,
and you've never got a happier husky
than when they're on there, pulling you.
Sounds like that requires a fair amount of skill and balance,
so I'm not sure how that's gonna go.
Wow, that's a proper piece of kit, that, isn't it?
How does it work?
I guess you stand there and just hope for the best?
THEY LAUGH
You have got a lot of control over it
because you've got the brakes and the steering rack. Yeah.
If you do want to bend down and you feel comfortable doing it,
the clogs will go faster.
So, the lower you get, the faster you go, basically. OK.
I'm actually really excited now. You're gonna absolutely love it.
With the three-wheeled theory covered,
now for the very eager eight-legged power.
This is Baby.
She's our eldest husky. She's now 11.
And you've got Rumour here, that's Baby's son.
It's a mother-and-son team. He's now nine.
As you can see, he's raring to go all the time.
He's desperate to go, isn't he? He is. He's our lead dog.
Have you got any last tips? You're gonna need this.
Oh, yeah. Safety first.
That's a very good point. Safety first.
Ancl number-one rule, do not let go!
I was feeling quite calm,
but I think the adrenaline's just kicked in now.
It feels very real all of a sudden.
DOG HOWLS
fight, you ready, Rom“? Three, two, one...
Line out!
It's bumpier than I expected. Straight on!
He's doing really good actually for a first go.
It's a bit wobbly.
Deary me! The steering is not easy at all.
He's doing really well. Look, he's bent down.
Rumour, hike on!
She's going to the toilet. Doing a poo.
Hope he's got a poo bag! SHE LAUGHS
Come on, Baby, hike on! Hike on!
Good girl. Whoa, whoa!
Good girl. Good boy, Rumour.
So, how'd you think it went? Yeah. It was amazing fun.
It was very, very bumpy and really hard to steer, to be honest.
But once you get going and you're on a nice straight bit
and they pick up some speed, it's a amazing feeling.
It is, in't it? There's no feeling like it in the world.
You feel like you're flying. Yeah.
I might have to take this up as a new hobby, I think.
Got another one hooked.
TH EY LAUGH Definitely, yeah.
Thank you. That's nice.
Near Kirkbymoorside, Peter's been reunited with Elvis...
I know, I know.
That's sore.
...a foal he saved on the day he was born who's suddenly gone lame.
I'm sorry, Elvis. I'm sorry. All right.
But Georgina's daughter, budding vet Lizzie, is on hand to help.
You're the donkey whisperer, aren't you? Are you?
Well, if you ever need an apprentice... Yes.
...you know where to come. I do, don't I?
I'm just going to trim this tissue off now.
Trim it back.
That's where the infection often gets in.
Ancl it's where the sole joins the hoof wall. Right.
That's all horrible dead tissue, and that needs to come off. Ooh.
So it might just hurt a little bit, might this.
But it has to be clone, Elvis. I'm sorry, boy.
It has to be clone.
Enjoying his apples, I think. Good.
I think Lizzie's making a big difference as well. I do.
Infection has worked its way back, and it's burst out at the heel.
Ancl that's why we've got a little bit of blood there,
cos we're pretty much back to healthy tissue there.
Right. It's painful for him because this is very sensitive.
Right. But | think... that boot that you've got,
I think that's going to be very useful.
Oh, brilliant.
I'm going to give you some antibiotics. Yeah.
I'm going to use that boot rather than bandage it
because I'm going to leave you this spray as well,
this antibiotic spray... Yeah.
...and I'd like you to put this on daily.
Are you watching, Lizzie? Cos you might have to do this.
This is what we need to do. Right?
I want you to spray Elvis like this.
UK?
Would you mind coming and holding his leg in here for me, Lizzie?
That's great.
Ancl then I can come in there, and I can slip him his boot on.
I'm glad you're here. You're obviously a natural, Lizzie.
Good boy. Brave boy.
That's it. That's lovely. Sorry, Elvis. I'm sorry!
Nice to see him having a drink there, isn't it? Yeah.
I think he deserves it after that. I think so as well.
Thank you. You're very welcome.
Thank you for your help!
I'm very grateful, cos I think you have a natural way with animals.
Ancl I think Elvis appreciated you being there.
We'll see you soon. Bye-bye. Bye-bye! Thank you!
When you go to see a lame animal,
you're never quite sure what you're going to find.
We've got him on painkillers. We've got him on some antibiotics.
Ancl he's got a lovely little boot there, which fits him perfectly.
I mean, you couldn't exactly describe it as Blue Suede,
but I think it's the nearest
that our Elvis is going to get to that.
He certainly...
As far as humans are concerned, he doesn't have a Suspicious Mind,
and I'll be back to see him fairly shortly.
While lambing season is a tough time for farmers,
the build-up can be just as dramatic.
And near Huddersfkfld,
Matt's heading to see David about one of his mums-to-be.
It sounds like one of his sheep has got a vaginal prolapse.
She's clue to lamb very soon,
so it needs to be dealt with pretty sharpish
so we don't get any damage to the tissues
when it comes to lambing.
Normally, I can deal with it myself, but this is proving awkward.
'Hopefully, I can sort it out,
'but you never know when you go to these on-call visits.
'It can turn into a disaster very quickly.'
You all right, David? Not bad, are you?
Not bad. How are you getting on? Got a bit of a prolapse.
Yeah. Young sheep.
Scared of damaging it, hence that's why you're here.
Right, then. Let's get cracking.
Oh, cripes!
Have you got, like, a clue date at all for her?
Approximately three week. Right.
I'll go grab a few injections, give her an epidural.
Are you all right there for a minute while I get my bits? Yeah.
I was really quite worried when I got this call.
Possibly, some big lambs in there,
and all that vaginal membrane's just got a bit loose,
and it's started to push everything out.
Most vaginal prolapses are quite mild,
whereas ones like this can be a bit more severe.
There's a lot of inflammation going on,
and these ones require a bit more surgical intervention.
Right, then. MATT GRUNTS
Let's get this epidural in.
Sheep epidurals are a lot trickier than cow epidurals
because of the angle that the tail comes down at
and where you've got to go in between the vertebrae
to get to where the spinal cord is and numb everything up.
Lovely.
Tell you what, have got a bit of water that I can nab?
I'll just give this a bit of a clean-up. Yeah.
Rinse off any crap. Sorry, Matt, it's cold, but...
There you go. That's better.
Keep it all moist. Right, then.
There we go.
So, now we've just got to get everything pushed back in,
and the membranes are really quite... weak.
So it's making sure you don't use your fingertips,
it's all going chameleon-style.
Aye, it's a fair size prolapse, is this, in't it? Mm.
For a vaginal one, it's a big 'un.
If this tissue is left out and she catches it somewhere,
it's really, really liable to ripping open.
Ancl you can even rip through
into some more important structures inside her.
That can be fatal.
Still to come...
So, we're scanning, are we, this morning? Yeah.
...Shona's at the motorway farm,
hoping the cows have been serviced successfully.
Can you get your knees up, lady? Come on, lass. Get up.
And Peter checks on Elvis's foot... Elvis.
Now, then, let's just have a look. Good boy.
...while his helper makes sure he doesn't have a wooden heart.
That's it. Can you hear it? Oh, yeah.
CH RISTOPH ER TIMOTHY: Near Huddersfield,
after her latest calving, Shona's hoping to discover
that more newborns will be arriving soon
at the farm in the middle of the motorway.
Got quite a nice job to do.
We're scanning some of the cows for pregnancy.
Coming to this farm brings back some childhood memories.
I've known Paul since I was very little.
I delivered my first lamb here.
Ancl it's nice and wild up on the hills.
With Paul wanting good news of new life...
Hello. You all right?
Yeah. You ready? I think so, yeah.
...at the farm where Shona developed her skills...
So, we're scanning, are we, this morning?
Yeah. I think there's nine to scan.
...students Emily and Hannah
are hoping to learn a thing or two themselves.
We're both in the same year at vet school.
This is a well-known farm. I'm local round this area.
So it's nice to finally be here in person.
Can you get your knees up, lady? PAUL: Come on, lass. Get up.
I can see in there that there's a calf.
Very good.
We're just here for a couple of weeks
to get an idea of how their practice works
and practise being "mini vets".
So, you've got a foetus. You've got a halo around it. Yeah?
Yeah. The membranes.
You've got a heartbeat, so how old do you reckon it is?
I know it's pregnant. That's kind of my limit. Yeah!
I'd say that's two squares, so that's about 37 clays. Yeah.
While Emily and Hannah aren't able to take any notes...
PAUL: 37 clays?
...Paul's struggling too. This is technical, look.
Forgotten my paper and pen, so have to go onto t'phone.
THEY LAUGH
This is to do, Shona.
Yeah, this one, girls,
I'm just putting my hand in, and I can feel a foot.
So she's well pregnant.
Pregnant... about three months.
Pregnant. Similar.
About 70 clays? Yeah.
Everything's going good. We've got some pregnant cows.
They all look really well.
Just two left to go through now.
Pregnant.
It's always nice, giving good news to people.
It's kind of quite real now.
A lot of the time at vet school, you do quite a lot of small animals,
so it's nice to finally be out on farms and, yeah,
kind of seeing it in real life.
She's pregnant again as well, so that's really good news.
Yeah, all clone. 100%. Can't be better than that.
It's always nice, coming to see Paul.
You know, he's a family friend. I've known him for a long time.
When it's good news, it makes everything really nice.
When it's bad news, it makes it a little bit worse.
Grand job, thank you. See you next time.
See you later, bye-bye. Cheers. Bye!
'|t's not always that you get every cow that you scan is pregnant,
'but it is a nice feeling when they are.'
Ancl it's great coming up to see everyone up here
and just... just quite a nice job, really.
A few miles across West Yorkshire,
Matt's trying to help a mum-to-be in a much later stage of pregnancy.
We're getting there, lass.
David's ewe has prolapsed,
and it's proving trickier to sort than Matt had hoped.
The risk with prolapses
are lacerations and infections getting in.
So we need to make sure that this tissue stays
on the inside of the body, where it should be.
Good girl. Good girl. That's it. EWE BLEATS
I'm just gonna lubricate it up in there a bit
just to get everything back into the right position.
Lovely.
Now just need to stitch it in, stop it coming back out.
Spirit on here, clean it all up.
Eh, eh, eh! No pushing, please. Thank you.
Good girl. Epidural's worked quite nicely.
So she can't feel any of this, which is good.
If you were to leave this now without stitching it in,
the walls of the vagina would just fold out
and push all that tissue out again.
So I need to put a stitch in there
to create a bit of a natural barrier.
'Ey up, girl. Stay down. We'll be clone in two minutes.
It looks almost like a purse string,
and it keeps that prolapse and all that tissue in at bay
so that those drugs can work and get everything settled down.
She can still wee and do everything as normal,
but it just means hopefully we don't have this problem again.
Right, then. There we go.
I'll just give her some long-acting antibiotics, David,
and then some anti-inflammatories, and she should be good to go then.
Good girl.
Three, two, one, bam. OK.
So, do you know if she's a single? Is she a twin or...?
I don't scan, but it looks like a twin.
I wouldn't be surprised. Some big twins, maybe. We shall see.
Right. Release the beast. We're clone.
Lovely, eh?
Oh, she's a nice looking sheep, in't she? Mm.
David did just the right thing and called us out in time,
because early intervention in prolapse is always better.
Sometimes, these things just happen.
However, sometimes, these prolapses can be
the first sign of an underlying problem.
So we're gonna have to watch her really quite closely
to make sure that there's nothing else going on there.
David knows exactly what he's doing,
so I've got every faith he'll be able to spot her when she's lambing,
cut that tape and deliver those lambs no bother.
Ancl if there is any problems,
he's always good at calling us early,
which gives the best chance of a successful outcome.
A few weeks later...
After Matt's visit, kept them in a couple of clays
and turned it back out with her mates.
Nothing came out again. Everything stayed where it should.
...despite Matt's successful handiwork...
...nature found a way.
I came to check them, and I saw she'd given birth in the field.
Ancl I thought, "How can that be?" Cos she's got a stitch in.
And David got more good news than he bargained for.
Surprised me,
so I got it in right quick and removed the stitches,
and two more lambs there, straightforward, no drama.
They were presented correctly, and it were just a case
of giving them a pull out, and that were it.
Left her to it. She did everything.
She's been maintenance free.
No bother. Ancl she's clone everything right.
Good, plenty of milk and that, you know.
So, yeah, it's a bonus.
While vets' stitching skills are normally needed
for pushing in prolapses or suturing at the end of surgery,
back in Wetherby,
Julian's are coming in handy to sort his tailoring trouble.
My keys have caused a hole to appear in my trousers.
Trouble is, once you've got a small hole,
it very quickly escalates into a much bigger problem,
so I'm nipping it in the bud.
It's fairly safe.
I guess there's a risk of accidental suturing the trousers to me.
Fabulous job.
Problem is, it makes it go smaller than it was
and slightly bumpy in there, but my keys won't fall out.
Are you gonna come back for your stitches out in ten clays?
No, these are... these are dissolving stitches. Oh!
Yeah. I'll have another hole by then, so...
THEY LAUGH
Near Kirkbymoorside,
it's two months since Peter treated baby Elvis,
when the donkey he helped as a newborn
had an infection in his foot.
Elvis was limping quite badly
and had been doing so for several clays.
So we've just popped in today just to see how he's getting on.
Let's just hope that things are going OK.
GRAHAM: You grab one of those carrots.
LIZZIE: Lottie.
And today, budding vet Lizzie has two assistants -
her grandad, Graham, and sister, Lottie.
I'll just give it one.
SHE YELPS, LAUGHS
Good boy, Elvis.
Hello, Graham. Hi there. Good to see you.
Well, I've called to see Elvis, to see how he's getting on.
Well, I've dealt with your expert in the past, Miss Lizzie here.
Yes, I know. She's very capable in your absence.
Ancl I see you've got your veterinary kit with you.
Well, that looks very impressive,
and it's probably more comprehensive and better than the kit I have.
I'm gonna be a vet when I grow up.
Do you know, I could tell, because you've got a natural ability for it.
Hello. How's he doing, eh?
I'm just interested,
have you used your stethoscope to listen to his heart?
Shall we do that? Yeah.
That's it. Now, can you hear it?
Oh, yeah. Sound healthy?
Yeah. Good.
Ancl after we treated him and you had your magic boot on,
do you think he's fully sound again now and he's not lame any more?
Yeah. You think he's OK?
Yeah. Excellent.
Elvis. Now, then, let's just have a look.
Good boy.
That sole had all been under run with pus,
which can happen very quickly.
It's quite sore when that happens.
He's putting his weight down equally on all four feet.
In fact, he's totally back to normal.
Ancl what Lizzie did was absolutely vital to Elvis getting better,
so I think you've clone a good job, a very good job.
Well clone, Lizzie. Excellent.
I'm really happy that Elvis is all better in his foot.
I love him loads.
This is good practise for when I be a vet when I grow up.
'Elvis is doing very nicely.
'He's been very well looked after by Lizzie,
'a budding star in the veterinary world.
'Ancl I think she'll be a great asset to our profession in future.'
Ancl who knows? She'll probably take over from me.